Compounds are formulated or designed for finishing aluminum. Aluminum is a bluish, silver-white, malleable, ductile, light, trivalent, metallic element with good electrical and thermal conductivity, high reflectivity, and resistance to oxidation.

Compounds are formulated, designed or suitable for copper finishing. Copper is a common, reddish, metallic element that is ductile and malleable. It is one of the best conductors of heat and electricity. Copper alloys are specified for applications in which superior corrosion-resistance, electrical conductivity, and good bearing-surface qualities are desired. All copper-base alloys are easily plated, brazed, soldered and machined.

Compounds are formulated, designed or suitable for finishing or polishing nickel and nickel alloys. Nickel and nickel alloys include proprietary products such as such as Monel®, Kovar®, Invar®, Inconel®, Incoloy®, and Hastelloy®. Monel, Inconel and Incoloy are registered trademarks of Special Metals Corporation. Kovar and Invar are registered trademarks of Carpenter Technology. Hastelloy is a registered trademark of Haynes International.

Compounds are formulated, designed or suitable for finishing or polishing optical components such as lenses, mirrors, prisms, or fibers during fabrication. These compounds are also used in eyeglass or ophthalmic production.

Compounds are formulated, designed or suitable for finishing or polishing noble or precious metals. These relatively scarce, highly corrosion-resistant, valuable metals are found in periods 5 and 6 of the periodic table. They include ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, silver, osmium, iridium, platinum, and gold.

Compounds are formulated, designed or suitable for finishing or polishing applications, or for planarizing silicon wafers or other semiconductor and electronic materials. For example, CMP slurries or dispersions are used for wafer planarization.

Compounds are formulated, designed or suitable for finishing or polishing titanium and titanium alloys. Titanium is a hard, lustrous, silvery element that is relatively abundant in the Earth's crust. It is known for its lightness, strength, and corrosion-resistance. For this reason, titanium is used widely in the aerospace industry and in medical applications (e.g., replacement joints). When alloyed with other metals (especially steel), titanium adds strength and oxidation resistance.

Compounds are formulated, designed or suitable for finishing or polishing zinc and zinc alloys. Zinc alloys have a relatively-low melting point compared to those of copper, aluminum and steel alloys. Their low melting points make zinc alloys easy to die cast, but detract from their creep properties. Zinc alloys do not have the strength, ductility and toughness of wrought copper, aluminum and steel alloys.

Compounds are formulated, designed or suitable for finishing other specialty, proprietary or unlisted materials.

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Finishing compounds are provided in another unlisted, proprietary or specialized form.

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Aluminum oxide is the most commonly used industrial mineral today. It occurs naturally in the form of the mineral corundum; however, this mineral is only used as a commercial abrasive in emery. Fused aluminum oxide is produced synthetically by melting bauxite and additives in an arc furnace to form fused aluminum-oxide ingots, which are later crushed and sized. Fused aluminum oxide is also produced synthetically by chemically purifying the various types of fused aluminum oxides, which are distinguished by the levels of chemical impurities remaining in the fused mineral. Titanium and chromium oxides are typical additives. Other techniques start with treating bauxite ore with a sol-gel process to create alumina that is sintered to an extremely-fine crystalline structure. Fused aluminum oxide is available in several variations, depending on composition and processing. Examples include white (high purity), brown or regular (titanium oxide modified), and pink (chromium oxide additions). Titanium oxide additions can toughen the abrasive and enable the heat-treating process, which changes brown aluminum oxide to a blue-colored grain as TiO2 precipitates form. Aluminum oxide abrasives are also produced with chemical precursors and precipitation, calcination and/or sintering processes. Calcined or platelet aluminas as used in fine-grit or polishing applications. Sol-gel aluminum oxide is produced by using chemical ceramic technology. These high-performance abrasives are usually referred to as "ceramic abrasive grains" in order to distinguish them from lower-performing forms of fused aluminum-oxide.

Boron carbide (B4C) is a very hard abrasive, with hardness second only to cubic boron nitride (CBN) and diamond. Boron carbide grains are very friable and, as a result, used mainly in bonded wheel dressing and the loose abrasive finishing of tungsten carbide or other hard alloys.

Ceramic abrasives usually consist of aluminum oxide with or without additional modifiers. They are produced in a sol-gel and sintering process. The ceramic processing method results in a hard, dense abrasive with an extremely-fine crystal size and outstanding grinding performance on a variety of workpiece materials.

Synthetic diamonds are produced in a high-temperature, high- pressure anvil press. Diamond is a superabrasive grain with the highest known hardness and a cubic crystal structure. Diamond is used for grinding nonferrous metals, ceramics, glass, stone, and building materials. It is not useful in grinding steel or ferrous alloys because the carbon or diamond readily dissolves or reacts with iron. Diamond pastes are useful in ferrous polishing or lapping applications in which heat and reactivity are not a factor. Diamond is susceptible to oxidation at higher temperatures.

Garnet is a natural silicate mineral made of almandite and pyrope. It is mined from igneous mineral deposits, or in concentrated pockets of alluvial deposits of old riverbeds. Garnet has the general chemical formula of Fe2O3Al2 (SiO4)3. The iron and aluminum are partially replaceable by calcium, magnesium and manganese.

Abrasive compounds are based on silicon dioxide or silica. Fumed silica-based CMP compounds are often used in semiconductor or silicon-wafer polishing and planarization applications. A pure silica CMP compound does not impart poisons or impurities into the wafer fab process. Typically, fumed or amorphous silica abrasives are chosen because crystalline silica is considered to be a carcinogen.

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a synthetic abrasive that is harder than aluminum oxide, but more friable than fused aluminum-oxide grains. Typically, silicon carbide is applied to nonferrous metals such as brass, aluminum, or titanium. The high solubility of carbon and silicon in iron would cause a reaction between the silicon carbide and iron-base alloy, resulting in poor grinding performance. Levels and types of impurities distinguish the green and black forms of silicon carbide. The sharp and easily fractured abrasive grains can be used for abrading non-metals such as stone, glass, wood, and leather. Like diamond, silicon carbide is susceptible to oxidation at higher temperatures.

Alumina-zirconia abrasive grains consist of a fused alloy of aluminum oxide and zirconium oxide. NorZon® is a widely used variation from the Norton Company. It consists of a fused and quenched eutectic mixture of aluminum oxide and zirconium oxide. The resulting fine structure and higher hardness contributes to improved grinding performance on stainless steel, titanium, and other exotic metals.

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Grit size applies to products with abrasive grains that are held in a matrix, or that are bonded to a surface (e.g., coated abrasives, MSL superabrasives, vitrified grinding wheels, dressing sticks, honing stones or grit dressers). Grit sizes are based on ANSI, FEPA, JIS or proprietary grading-system standards. These grading-system standards define a grit size through specified upper and lower limits at certain points in the size distribution.

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